Promotional poster for the movie "Miserable Creatures", for which Emma Stone won an Oscar (Al Jazeera)

The movie “Poor Things” sparked different responses among the audience.

Some considered it a masterpiece, while others found it strange and even vulgar.

But on the other hand, everyone agreed that the work is characterized by deep symbolism and deserves careful attention to its details.

What also makes this movie fun is the unpredictability of the future of the main character, Bella (Emma Stone).

Although the work may present various expectations based on the developments of the story and events, Bella chooses her own path without submitting to attempts to control her, which makes her often break the expectations of viewers.

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“Wretched Creatures” features light comedic artistic touches, and the Victorian-inspired costumes come as an additional touch to make the viewing experience more exciting and special.

The work is considered a masterpiece that combines boldness and creativity, with a story that exceeds familiar expectations and leaves the audience in a state of contemplation and amazement.

The film was nominated in 11 categories at the Academy Awards, and “Wretched Creatures” took home four awards: Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costumes, and Best Production Design, while the film’s heroine, Emma Stone, received the Best Actress award.

The film "Wretched Creatures" was distinguished by its Victorian-era costumes, for which it won an Oscar (IMDP).

An exceptional trip

Regarding the events of “Wretched Creatures,” it can be described as an exceptional artistic journey that follows Bella’s character from childhood to intellectual and emotional maturity. It begins with Bella, who lives as a child in a woman’s body with the crazy doctor, and considers his presence to represent her world, as he brought her back to life through an implant. Her future child's brain is in place of her own.

The film is divided into five stages that express Bella's maturity, with each stage carrying meanings and transformations that affect her view of the world.

The story also highlights Bella's relationship with the characters around her, especially Max McCandless (Rami Youssef) and Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo);

Max represents the supportive and calm man, while Duncan shows the manipulative and life-loving side.

The film also presents a strong message about giving life a second chance, as Bella goes through new and difficult experiences, and in the end she gets a second chance after she was on the verge of despair.

“Wretched Creatures” is based on the novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, published in 1992. The novel focuses more on the memoirs of Glasgow doctor Archibald McCandless in the late nineteenth century, and follows the strange life of Bella Baxter.

The story does not differ much from the movie, but the difference lies in the character through which the events are narrated. In the novel, we see the story through the character of Doctor Glaxo Archibald, unlike the movie, which narrates it through Bella.

Photography, lighting and colours

After the opening, the first act of the film passes in black and white throughout Bella's time at the doctor's house, before switching to color when Bella goes out to explore life.

The film later featured vibrant, colorful scenes, which made the colorful scenes unrealistic, because we began to see the world through Bella's point of view, and because Bella is a woman with a child's mind, she sees the world from the eyes of an innocent child who is fascinated by everything.

For "Miserable Creatures", special lenses were chosen to obtain a specific effect for the scenes, with an emphasis on zoom lenses and fisheye lenses, which are usually used to focus on emotions, so they were used in most of the emotional scenes.

I also used a lot of wide lenses to make everything look big and huge, while no professional lighting was used in many of the scenes, and the director relied on normal lighting to get the classic effect of the scenes.

Music and fashion

Composer Gerskin Fendrix created music for the film that is fun and dramatic, childlike and classic, loud and calm at the same time, just like a child playing and exploring life, like a more innocent version of 90s children's show music.

American actor Mark Ruffalo in a scene from the movie "Wretched Creatures" (IMDP)

Like all elements of the film, the costumes combined classics and modernity. Most of Bella’s outfits had puffed sleeves, like Victorian-era fashions with short skirts, resulting in a very beautiful and distinctive mix that included glimpses of fashion from the sixties and seventies, the Victorian era, and children’s clothing.

What is the message of “Miserable Creatures”?

Of all the analyzes written since the release of “Miserable Creatures,” the team’s response in an interview at the New York Film Festival was that the film does not have a specific message;

Director Yorgos Lanthimos said, “There is no direct message. It is about putting the characters in events that reveal the conflict in human behavior, society around man, and man himself. The film does not preach to us or speak to us directly, but rather points to the simplicity and absurdity of Bella’s sarcastic parallel world.” "Maybe to make us realize how ridiculous the actual real world is."

“Miserable Creatures” is directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, who previously directed “The Lobster”, from a screenplay by Tony McNamara, and photography by Robbie Ryan, starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies